Tax Fog and the Transparency Owed to Taxpayers

This article, featured in the third volume of the NOVA Tax Research Series (Volume III), delves into the analysis of one of the primary obstacles to contemporary tax justice: the increasing complexity and opacity of tax norms.

The research is based on the premise that the technical density and chronic instability of tax regulations are not merely operational difficulties, but rather barriers that compromise transparency and the legitimate expectations of private individuals. The study argues that normative complexity often acts as a veil that conceals the reasoning behind decisions, hindering scrutiny and transforming the relationship between the State and the taxpayer into a power asymmetry that challenges the fundamental principles of democracy.

Throughout the text, transparency is elevated from a mere ancillary administrative duty to a fundamental ethical and legal imperative. The narrative establishes a dialogue between political theory—invoking figures such as Habermas and Dworkin—and the daily practice of Public and Tax Law. It explores the taxpayers' right to understand the taxes they owe as a prerequisite for fiscal citizenship, analyzing how the clarity and predictability of decisions are essential conditions for tax justice.

In a context of increasing digitalization and massive information flows, this article seeks to ascertain the reasoning requirements (dever de fundamentação) to which the tax administration is bound, offering a contemporary perspective on how transparency must serve as the necessary antidote to opacity and administrative discretion.